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Music Festivals of the Southwest 2010
Good news for die-hard festivarians: The popularity of Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter and whatever other social media tools out there that this almost-unhip writer doesn't know about have enhanced the festival experience by allowing you to get up-to-the-second updates, keep friends you made at gigs and watch your memorable moments again and again - and again. Go ahead and follow your friends, the tweets and reloop that video, but don't throw away this issue of Inside/Outside Southwest, because here we give you a valuable and handy look at a great deal of music festivals happening this year in the Four Corners.
(Disclaimer: The list here is not complete and exhaustive of all festivals taking place. It is not meant to be the definitive and representative list of all in the Four Corners. Also, make sure you visit Web sites for each festival to get updates and changes that have been made since this publication.)
ARIZONA
Flagstaff Music Festival
June 19-20
Heritage Square, Flagstaff, Ariz.
flagstaffmusicfestival.com
This is Flagstaff's eighth year for putting on this music festival featuring local artists. It also has vendors artists and food. Bonus: It's free.
Flagstaff Folk Festival
June 26-27
Coconino Center for the Arts, Arizona Historical Society Pioneer Museum, Flagstaff, Ariz.
flagfolkfest.org
Here you can see some top folk and acoustic musicians. More than 100 acts on four stages. Beyond music, there are workshops and a dance one night. Bonus: See past performances on YouTube to get a preview of the offerings: flagfolkfest.org/2009/07/youtube-clip/
August 28-Sept. 6
Sedona, Ariz.
redrocksmusicfestival.com
A weeklong festival, this one highlights classical and jazz concerts. The offerings are blends that reach deeply beyond just notes. To wit: In 2008, one program included works composed during communist Russia and during the Holocaust. Bonus: A stunning backdrop.
Grand Canyon Music Festival
September
Grand Canyon, Ariz.
grandcanyonmusicfest.org
This monthlong festival of chamber music draws the cream-of-the-crop of musicians to play hauntingly beautiful music in one of the world's great wonders. Bonus: The Grand Canyon.
Pickin' in the Pines Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival
Sept. 17-19
Flagstaff, Ariz.
pickininthepines.org
Pine trees are a prime place for listening to rocking bluegrass music in the aptly named Pine Mountain Amphitheater. Bonus: YouTube it for a preview at youtube.com/PickininthePines
Sedona Jazz Fest on the Rocks
Date unknown
Sedona, Ariz.
sedonajazz.com
The bummer economy put a halt to this festival last year, but organizers promise that it will come back this year. They have said they've taken steps to reduce costs and will be holding a series of smaller events throughout the year to make money. Bonus: Organizers who don't want this festival to go away.
COLORADO
April 16-18
Durango, Colo.
durangomeltdown.com
Think lots of twanging, dancing and high-speed jamming. This three-day event, much loved by bluegrass die-hards, delivers a musical wallop. Bonus: The group's Facebook page is very active with good, up-to-date information. Follow it here: facebook.com/pages/Durango-CO/Durango-Bluegrass-Meltdown/130647080628
Pagosa Bluegrass and
Folk Festival
June 4-6
Pagosa Springs, Colo.
folkwest.com/folk_bluegrass_festival/index.htm
You can't get more folk and bluegrass than Southwest Colorado. This party draws a crowd that takes music and fun very seriously. Bonus: Darol Anger & the Republic of Strings, The Belleville Outfit, Matt Flinner Trio, Bearfoot, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, The Quebe Sisters Band, Kenny & Amanda Smith, Honey Don't, Badly Bent, Halden Wofford & The Hi-Beams.
Telluride Bluegrass Festival
June 17-20
Town Park, Telluride, Colo.
bluegrass.com/telluride
As everyone knows, this is the big one in the festival circuits of the Four Corners. It has been going for 37 strong years. And each year it brings back some legendary performers. Many of the festival's mainstays will return this year. Bonus: For the second year in a row, the festival coincides with Summer Solstice.
Crested Butte Music Festival
July 3-Aug. 5
Crested Butte, Colo.
crestedbuttemusicfestival.com
Eddie Daniels will be the artist-in-residence at this year's monthlong music shindig that features symphonies, operas and pops concerts. Nearly every day of the festival's duration there is a concert - often even family-oriented events. Bonus: This year includes a new Bluegrass in Paradise festival. It's two days, includes a kids camp, and will bring in the "Godfather" of bluegrass, Ralph Stanley, Shannon Whitworth and Drew Emmitt and Billy Nershi, who will perform together. Emmitt will be the host of this festival, which runs July 6-10.
Music in the Mountains
Classical Music Festival
July 10-Aug. 1
Durango, Colo.
musicinthemountains.com
Durango's well-known classical event boasts more than a dozen concerts in and around Durango. The popular white tent at Durango Mountain Resort, where it's home base for MIM, will fill with class acts and those who love them. Bonus: This festival does as much for kiddos, through its Music in the Mountains Goes to School program, as it does for adults.
Telluride Jazz Celebration
Aug. 6-8
Telluride, Colo.
telluridejazz.org
This popular festival in the Rocky Mountains draws jazz enthusiasts who are a mix of purists and adventurers.
Bonus: The festival's guest of honor this year is pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader Toshiko Akiyoshi, who is
a Grammy-winning artist. You probably wouldn't think of jazz and Japan as being something that goes together, but
that's what has made Akiyoshi so popular.
Four Corners Folk Festival
Sept. 3-5
Pagosa Springs, Colo.
folkwest.com/index2.htm
The Four Corners festival has a saying on its Web site that is indicative of it reputation. It says: "All music is folk music; I ain't never heard no horse sing a song." The great Louis Armstrong said that. And that's very telling about this festival. The folks and the folk singers make it. Bonus: Sam Bush Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, Solas, Over The Rhine, Crooked Still, Sarah Jarosz, John Jorgenson Quintet, Caravan of Thieves, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Anne & Pete Sibley, Sweet Sunny South.
Telluride Blues & Brews
Sept. 17-19
Telluride, Colo.
tellurideblues.com
Always a favorite among festival-goers, it'll be worth the wait to find out what this year's lineup will be. A combo of good music and good microbrews is hard to beat. Bonus: You can now buy live recordings from past festivals.
NEW MEXICO
Taos Solar Music Festival
June 25-27
Taos, N.M.
solarmusicfest.com
The Solar festival is back after a hiatus last year because of the struggling economy. That will make many
festivarians happy. The lineup is yet to be announced, but it would be hard to argue it won't be up to par as past
years.
Bonus: High-altitude sun.
Thirsty Ear Festival
June 11-13
Eaves Movie Ranch, Santa Fe, N.M.
thirstyearfestival.com
Thirsty Ear provides an impressive selection of world-class folk, blues, alt-country, Cajun, zydeco, bluegrass,
reggae and roots rock music over a three-day period (not to mention microbrews, wine, food, camping and entertainment
for kids). Thirsty Ear each year is put on at Eaves Movie Ranch, an icon of western films - new and old. Bonus: Music
on a movie set.
Albuquerque Folk Festival
June 18-19
Albuquerque, N.M.
abqfolkfest.org
Popular folk acts, Trish Hinojosa among them, play at this. The music is rootsy, eclectic and cultural. Bonus: Lots of workshops.
Santa Fe Chamber
Music Festival
July 18-Aug. 23
Santa Fe, N.M.
sfcmf.org
Since 1972, the chamber festival goes on for six weeks and has more than 80 concerts, recitals, classes and rehearsals. Last year, the festival offered a series of concerts that took place in Albuquerque. Bonus: Open rehearsals for those who can't make concerts.
Taos Mountain Music Festival
Sept. 5
Taos, N.M.
taosmountainmusicfestival.com
Last year was the inaugural for this fest at Taos' ski mountain. Though it is only a one-day affair, the half-dozen or so bands, featuring Warren Haynes and his band Gov't Mule, make it long on entertainment. Bonus: Taos has yet another entertaining event.
Old Time Music Festival
Aug. 27-29
Santa Fe, N.M.
southwestpickers.org/festival/2010/index.php
How can you not want to go to a festival where a band called "The Squash Blossom Boys" will be playing? Bonus: Squash blossoms
UTAH
Desert Rocks
May 28-30
Kane Creek Canyon, Moab, Utah
desertrocks.org
The 2010 lineup has yet to be announced, but this concert in the desert is often chockablock with rock, bluegrass and
funk music.
Bonus: A festival in the desert.
Women's Red Rock Festival
August 6-7
Torrey, Utah
redrockwomensfest.com
The festival celebrates female artists who are talented, independent and ground-breaking. Bonus: You don't have to be a woman to attend or enjoy this festival.
Moab Music Festival
Sept. 2-13
Moab, Utah
moabmusicfest.org
The festival includes concerts of chamber, classical, traditional, vocal and jazz music. Venues are diverse, but among the most stunning are those performances on the Colorado River. Bonus: Long list of concerts.
Moab Folk Festival
Nov. 5-7
Moab, Utah
moabfolkfestival.com
Organizers haven't announced who will play this year's gig, but check out the Web site for past performers and you will quickly find out that it showcases some of the best folkies. Bonus: Moab + folk music.
Contributing editor AMY MAESTAS writes and sways from Durango, Colo.
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Monday, May 03, 2010
at 3:48:46 PM
Suggest removal
Jean says:
Don't miss this world-class Chamber Music Festival in northern New Mexico:
Music from Angel Fire celebrates its 27th Season August 20 - September 5, 2010. World-class chamber music is performed in 15 concerts featuring more than 35 international artists including among others, Festival favorites pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, violinists Ida and Ani Kavafian, cellist Peter Wiley and The Miami String Quartet. All in the beautiful New Mexico mountain communities of Angel Fire, Taos, Raton and Las Vegas. Tickets range from $20 - $35. For information call (888)377-3300 or visit www.musicfromangelfire.org.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
at 11:46:23 AM
Suggest removal
Shaine says:
Another signature music festival in the Southwest is the 7th Annual Dolores River Festival taking place Saturday, June 5, 2010. The festival features live music all day on two stages, free river raft rides, children's activities, a down-river kayak race, food and beer concessions, festival vendors, and educational booths from community organizatons. A portion of the festival proceeds benefit river enhancement and conservation projects. For more information visit the website www.doloresriverfestival.com or contact Shaine Gans by email, coordinator@doloresriverfestival.com